Mayor Sam Sullivan has waived his automatic right to be his party's candidate in Vancouver's November elections, opening up a two-way race with rival Councilor Peter Ladner.
In a letter to the board of the Non-Partisan Association this weekend, Sullivan said he would rather face a challenge to his leadership head-on than divide the party as heads for an election only months away.
"I am advising the Board that I am opting out of the Greenlight Process you have offered me and that I welcome an open and transparent leadership contest with Councilor Peter Ladner," wrote Sullivan in the letter.
"I am recommending that a leadership vote between Councilor Ladner and myself take place as soon as possible in order to bring closure to this issue and allow us to move forward," he wrote.
The party's rules state that the incumbent mayor is automatically the party's next mayoral candidate, but these so-called "greenlight process" rules were only put in place six months ago.
Ladner challenged Sullivan to opt out of the rules when he publicly announced he would run last week.
At the time, the mayor said he saw no problems with the rule. But Sullivan changed his mind because if Ladner ran as an independent, the party could lose votes, said Sullivan's spokesman David Hurford.
Ladner didn't return calls by press time.
